Gun support



1951' G.-K. RICHARDSON 2,537,236

GUN SUPPORT Original Filed July 5, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1. I

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Patented Jan. 9, 1 951 GUN SUPPORT George K. Richardson, Wenham, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J.,. a corporation of New Jersey Original application July 3, 1944, Serial 'No.

543,345. Divided andthis application December 2, .1946," Serial No. 713,573

2 Claims.

This invention. relates to ordnance and is herein illustrated in its application to means for supporting guns in plural gun mounts for use in airplanes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved means for bore sighting each gun in a plural gun mount such,'for example, asthe gun mount illustrated and described in my 00- pending application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 543,345, filed July 3, 1944, now

2 Fig. 4 is a section on the line'IV-W of Fig; 3; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded view illustrating the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 1, the illustrated gun mount is located in the tail portion of an airplane, a

Patent 2,463,056, of whichthe present application is a division. I

With the above object in view, the present invention in one aspect thereof consists in the provision in a gunmount ofa support for the muzzle .end of the gun',. a yoke on which the breech end of the .gun is mounted forlongitudinal movement, a cradle in which said'yoke is mounted for movement widthwise of the gun, a screw for effectingsuch. movement of the yoke on the cradle, said yoke having ways extendinggenerally parallel to the boreoi the gun, shoes slidably mountedin said ways, an eccentric cross shaft carried by'said shoes and journaled in extensions of the breech portion of the gun, and a worm for turning said eccentric cross shaft to effect angular movement of the gun in a direc-' tion to adiust the line of fire of the gun in elevation. The screw acting on the yoke and the eccentric cross shaft above referred to provide a convenient means for bore sighting the gun.

It will be understood that the bore sighting ;side the airplane looking in the generaldirection of the bores of the guns;

Fig. 2 is an'elevation taken from the same po sition as Fig. 1 illustrating the mounting of the breech portions of the guns, said guns, being diagrammatically shown and the gun supporting column and cradle being shown in section in a plane common to the' axis of a gun cradle on the column;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

portion of the fuselage of which is indicated "by the numeral 1!]. The gun mount is supported .on a crosshead 12 secured to a rib M of thefuselage. The crosshead [2 supports a column l6'for movement on an axis extending heightwise of the airplane. Mounted on the column for swinging movement on an axis extending widthwise of the airplane is a hollow cradle surrounding the column, the illustrated cradle comprising two adapters I 8 the opposite ends of which are secured together by heads or end 'plates 20.

Mounted on the adapters are four.50 caliber machine guns, the bores of said guns defining four corners of a rectangle the sides of which are respectively parallel and perpendicular to the axis of the column. Referring to Fig. 2 the adapters l8 are secured by a clamping bolt' to a hollow shaft 24 which turns .in roller. bearings "26 mounted in the column IS.

The illustrated guns are so mounted on their adapters that they may be individually adjusted for bore sighting to determine either the degree of dispersion of fire of the guns or alternatively the point at which their fire crosses. The-illustrated construction permits angular adjustment of each gun both heightwise and widthwise. Referring to Fig. 1 the two upper guns 28 are slidably mounted in recoil cartridges Stand each of said recoil cartridges is pivotally mounted in a yoke 32 for angular movement aboutan axis extending widthwise of the gun, and each yoke 32 is provided with a stem 33 which is pivotally mounted in one of the adapters !8'for.turning movement on an axis extending heightwise of the gun. The two lowerguns 34 are'mounted in recoil cartridges 36, and each recoil cartridge is pivotally mounted in a yoke 38 for angular movement about an'axis extending heightwise of the gun, each yoke being provided with a stem 39 which is pivotally mounted in one of the adapters for swinging movement on an axis extending widthwise of the gun. This arrangement of the lower yokes 38 permits the use. of relatively small adapters, thus substantially .minimizing the wei ht of the assembly. If The mechanism for individually adjusting each gun for purposes of bore sighting is illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5. It will be understood that there are four such mechanisms, one for each of the four guns. Referring to Fig. 2 the breech portion of each gun is securely held in a channel member 40 having downwardly extending lugs 42. Pivotally mounted in the lugs 42 is a cross shaft 44 which has pivotally mounted on its opposite end portionstwo shoes 46. To provide for movement of the gun inrecoil and also for removal of the gun from its mounting for purposes of repair the shoes 46 are slidably mounted in grooves or ways in a yoke 48 supported on an extension of one of the adapters l8. Referring to Fig. 3, each shoe 46 has an arcuate side face 52 engaging one wall of a groove 54 in the yoke and serving to obviate binding of the shoes in the grooves and to facilitate removal and replacement of the gun. The shoes are each retained in a fixed position endwise of the cross shaft 44 while permitted to turn thereon by a cylindrical key 56 (Fig. 5) mounted in a bore extending longitudinally of the shoe and intersecting an edge portion of a bore 58 provided in the shoe for the cross shaft. The key 56 is thus arranged to be seated in a circular groove 60 extending about the cross shaft.

. For reasons which will appear hereinafter the extension 58 of the adapter I8 is so constructed as to provide a hollow square structure 62 (Fig. 5) connected to the body of the adapter by angle arms 64. The yoke 48 has a square stem 68 constructed and arranged to extend downwardly through the hollow square 6?. and to bear against its inner wall 68, and for further aiding in positioning the yoke relatively to the hollow square and guiding its gun adjust ng movement the hollow square has upwardly projecting tongues which fit into a complemental groove in the base of the yoke. To permit widthwise adjustment of the breech portion of the gun the stem 66 is substantially narrower than the opening in the hollow square. For effecting such widthwise adjustment of the yoke 48 an adjusting screw 72 is arranged to extend through opposite walls of the hollow square and its central threaded portion is constructed and arranged to operate in a threaded hole in the stem 66. The screw 12 is held against endwise movement relatively to the hollow square by a collar 14 pinned to the reduced end portion of the screw. In order to secure the yoke 48 in adjusted pos tion the stem 66 has a threaded cylindrical end portion '16 extending freely through an opening in a plate '18 which provides a bearing surface for a clamping nut 88 on said end portion 16. It will be seen that by turning the screw 12 the yoke 48 is moved widthw se to effect widthwise angular adjustment of the gun.

In order to provide for angular adjustment of the gun heightwise thereof for bore sighting, the portions 82 (Figs. 4 and 5) of the cross shaft 44 extending through the lugs 42 are eccentric relatively to the end and center portions of the cross shaft and thus by turning the cross shaft the desired heightwise adjustment may be effected. For turning the cross shaft a headed pin 84 is mounted for turning movement in a block 86 slidably mounted on a flat face 88 of the yoke 48 and the central portion of the top of said block is provided with a transverse groove 98 exposing the central portion of the pin 84. The groove 90 is complemental in shape to the central portion of the cross shaft 44 and is so arranged heightwise of the block as to engage the cross shaft and to hold the threaded central portion of the pin 84 in working engagement with worm gear teeth 92 on the cross shaft. The block 86 is positioned lengthwise of the cross shaft 44 by an angle plate 84 (Fig. 5) mounted on the block and having a cylindrical end portion which embraces the central portion of the cross shaft 44. The angle plate 94 is held in position on the block 86 by the pin 84 which passes through a hole 96 in the angle plate and confines the angle plate between the head of the pin and the end face of the block. It will be seen that by turning the pin 84 the cross shaft 44 may be rotated to effect heightwise angular adjustment of the gun. For locking the pin 84 in adjusted position the block 86 carries in an offset bore a spring pressed latch pin 98 which seats in any one of a series of recesses provided in a collar I pinned on the pin 84.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a gun mount, a yoke on which the breech portion of a gun is mounted for longitudinal movement, a cradle on which said yoke is mounted for movement widthwise of the gun, a screw for effecting such movement of the yoke on the cradle, said yoke having ways extending genera ly parallel to the bore of the gun, shoes slidably mounted in sa d ways, an eccentric cross shaft carried by said shoes and journaled in extensions of the breech portion of the gun, and a worm for turning said eccentric cross shaft to effect angular movement of the gun in a direc tion to adjust the line of fire of the gun in elevation.

2. In a gun mount, a gun, a yoke on which the breech portion of the gun is mounted for longitudinal movement, a cradle on which the yoke is mounted for movement in a direction to adjust the line of fire of the gun in azimuth, means for orienting the yoke comprising tongue-andgroove connections between the yoke and the cradle, an eccentric element which supports the breech port on of the gun in said yoke, and means for rotating said eccentric element to adjust the line of fire of the gun in elevation.

GEORGE K. RICHARDSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num er Name Date 721,353 Behnke Feb. 24, 1903 1,086,590 Frisell Feb. 10, 1914 1,757,244 Green May 6, 1930 2,002,538 Kindelmann et a1. May 28, 1935 2,335,835 Zietlow Nov. 30, 1943 2,347,406 Frazer-Nash Apr. 25, 1944 2,350,122 Martin May 30, 1944 2,371,004 Unterman Mar. 6, 1945 2,372,728 Martin Apr. 3, 1945 2,376,835 Trotter May 22, 1945 2,383,985 Ogg Sept. 4, 1945 2,385,218 Martin Sept. 18, 1945 2,403,591 Ewart July 9, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 324,308 Germany Aug. 26, 1920 OTHER REFERENCES Aviation Magazine, May- 1941, pages 44, 45, 146 and 148. 

